Trees Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
 Maple tree along Mary Jane Falls Trail |
General: Rocky Mountain Maple (Acer glabrum var. diffusum) is a modest tree of damp places in the mountains. The leaves are palmate with three lobes, and each lobed is is slightly notched. Young stems are red; older are gray. Seeds are produced with wings that catch the wind. Rocky Mountain Maples are found along washes, rivers, and other damp areas in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland), Transition (Yellow Pine Forest), and Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest) life zones. Around Las Vegas, Rocky Mountain Maple can most easily be found in moist canyons on Mt. Charleston and other places in the Spring Mountains. |
 Typical tree: upright, but sprawling and unkempt |
Family: Maple (Aceraceae). Other Names: Plant Form: Upright to scraggly, branching shrub to tree. Height: 6 to 20 ft. |
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Trunk: silver-gray Leaves: Palmately lobed with 3 leaflets (leaflets not deeply notched), to about 2-inches wide. Teeth on margin few and blunt Flowers: Blooms during the spring. Flowers not showy. Seeds: Seeds hang from small branchlets; each seed has a wing (sumara) that catches in the wind. |
 Leaves and twigs |
Distribution: California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Habitat: Moist canyons, springs. Elevation: About 5,000 to 9,000 feet. Comments: |
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Mature (gray) stems and leaves |
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Mature (gray) stems and leaves |
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Young (red) stems and leaves |
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Young (red) stems and leaves |
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Dorsal surface: compound leaf with three leaflets |
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Dorsal surface: compound leaf with three leaflets |
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Leaves and developing fruit (bi-winged sumara) |
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Leaves and developing fruit (bi-winged sumara) |
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Leaves and developing fruit (bi-winged sumara) |
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Deformed fruit (bi-winged sumara) |
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Deformed fruit (bi-winged sumara) |
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Fruit (bi-winged sumara) and leaves |
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Tree during winter: leaves have fallen |
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Winter leaf still holding on |
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Winter fruit still holding on |
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Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
© Jim Boone; Last updated 100228
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